It was a day of green at Glenn Hall Park as the Saskatchewan Roughriders made a special stop in Humboldt on June 3 for a practice and meet and greet.
The team was deeply affected by the April 6 Humboldt Broncos crash, says President and CEO Craig Reynolds and they wanted to reach out and help anyway they could. June 3 was a day where they could offer Humboldt an escape.
“We really committed to being there for them for the long haul and we had some ideas and we quickly realized that we could help with the healing.”
The grief from the crash was not only felt in Humboldt but across the province and the world, says Kevin Garginer, president of the Humboldt Broncos.
“When we know that people are grieving in the same way that we are, it helps us because it tells us we’re not alone.”
Members of the Roughrider staff had a chance to serve burgers to the community and Reynolds says he got to talk to one of the Bronco moms.
That was emotional, he says, and the reason why they were there.
Reynolds says he hopes the practice was a welcome distraction for the community with sports having a healing power.
“That’s what we’re really trying to accomplish here is really trying to help the community heal and support the community as they recover.”
Reynolds grew up in Foam Lake and traveled to Humboldt to take on their rivals, the Mohawks.
The crash resonated for him and many of the other Roughriders, he says.
“The tragedy obviously hit home on several fronts… you think about it from the president of a sports team’s perspective, obviously that’s your absolute worst tragedy.”
The Roughriders also announced the Humboldt Broncos home game will take place on June 30 at Mosaic Stadium. While people rally around the Saskatchewan based club, Reynolds says they hope this offers a chance for people to rally around the Humboldt Broncos.
It was almost overwhelming to think about the June 30 game being for them, says Garinger, but the more he thought about it, the more it became a way for the Broncos to give back to first responders and fellow communities who have helped them.
“It’s such a humbling thing to know that you have an organization like the Saskatchewan Roughriders standing behind you and supporting you to try to reach out and help others who have helped you through this unimaginable tragedy.”
For Reynolds the message to the Broncos was one of commitment and support and being around for the families and communities for the long haul.
JDRF Walk for a Cure
Also included on June 3 in Humboldt was the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Walk for a Cure.
Organizers Maria Strasser and Cailin Hergott says that with the tragedy happening at the beginning of April, they took a step back from planning the walk in order to let the community heal.
The Roughriders invited the organization to join in a day of community support, so Strasser says that the last two weeks have been a busy time in ramping up for the day.
Humboldt Bronco Kaleb Dahlgren has always been a strong support of the JDRF, even forming his own foundation to help young people living with type 1 diabetes, Dalhgren’s Diabeauties.
It was nice to come back and help the foundation with their event, he says and be able to tell his own story of living with type 1 diabetes.
There were no hockey role models living with diabetes when he was a kid, he told the crowd, but he wanted to offer that to young people in and around Humboldt with his foundation. Through the Diabeauties, Dahlgren speaks with kids about living with type 1 diabetes, and offers them a Humboldt Broncos experience by inviting them to home games.
Dahlgren, as well as Gainer the Gopher and Humboldt’s Duke Brochu, lead the walk from the Humboldt Public School to Westminister United Church then to Glenn Hall Park to finish the walk shortly before the Roughrider practice.
